Friday, May 22, 2015

The emergence of modern Zionism in the
late 19th century, ushered changes in to the Jewish world which were
immediately reflected in bookplate themes. Until the first half of the
Eighteenth Century, self-imposed strictures in individual possession of holy
books began to loosen. Up until that time, Jews regarded books as holy articles
and thus refrained from marking them as anyone’s personal possession. This was
in deference to the prohibition from the Torah stating, “Thou shalt not add
thereto not shalt thou take away from it.”

As such, stylistically, the
Jewish bookplate of the 18th and 19th centuries differed little from those of
non-Jews. Plates were executed in the styles of the period and place, (England,
Germany and Holland in particular) without any hint of Judaic themes or
motifs. What made them “Judaic” was simply due to the Jewish personage/family
name attached to the plate.

By Ephraim Moses Lilien for Reuben Brainin

The Hebrew term,
“MiSifrei”,(“Ex-Libris”) first appeared on a bookplate designed by Ephraim
Moses Lilien, in a plate executed for Reuben Brainin. It can be safely
argued that Lilien was the foremost innovator for graphic design in pre-state
Israeli bookplates. He came from Central Europe at around the turn of the
century, to help establish Jerusalem’s renowned Bezalel School of
Art. Stylistically reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley, his works
made emphatic use of Judaic and Zionist imagery. Theodor Herzl
appears regularly in his designs, sometimes as a Maccabean -era warrior in
armor or as Moses, in shepherd robes, leading his flock to the Land of Israel
or even as the Jewish Messiah.

One of Lilien’s most noted works was the plate
done for Martin Buber. The plate is adorned with the walls of Jerusalem in the
shape of a Shield of David, viewed from above. The inscription boldly
states, “Das Ist Mein Land”.

By Ephraim Moses Lilien

Perhaps Lilien's most iconic work is
that of a bearded Rabbi studying from a holy book (in a plate for
L. Winz) which has been copied and imitated in literally hundreds of different
bookplates across the Jewish world. This rabbinical visage drawn by him appears
in countless synagogue libraries to this very day. (See
accompanying examples)

One may say that
the pre-state era, starting around the turn of the century, up through the
First World War were the golden age of “Palestinian”-Jewish bookplates.
Innovative use of Hebrew lettering as ornamental elements is seen as
never before at this time.

In a
ground-breaking retrospective on Israeli bookplates, entitled
“Exhibition of Jewish Bookplates” ( National Union of Printing Workers
in Israel, Jerusalem, 1956) , this period saw “A reversion to ancient tradition
by using the Hebrew letters as ornamental elements, thereby influencing the style
of the Bezalel artists” .Along with decorative use of Hebrew lettering,
themes of the "Alteneuland” predominated as well. Shepherds, dreamy
star-gazers in Biblical landscapes, and ancient Judaic symbols
characterize this period.

By Herman Struck

By Joseph Budko

By Jacob Steinhardt,

By Ze’ev Raban

Other outstanding
artists of this period include, Herman Struck, Jacob Steinhardt, Joseph Budko ,
Boris Schatz and Ze’ev Raban. To quote the “Exhibition Catalogue” again, “The
plates of Herman Struck are of an exceedingly high standard….though
thematically incidental to and do not characterize the owner of the ex-libris”.
Those of Joseph Budko on the other hand, constitute ex-libris art par -excellence
and keep with the traditions of Jewish graphics. They are outstanding
specimens of Jewish ornamentation

With the rise of the State of Israel into
the 1950’s and 60’s, use of classic Jewish symbols began to wane in Israeli
bookplate motifs. No longer were the menorah, Magen David, Torah scroll and the
Abrahamic shepherd prevalent, the Jews had come home. It was less imperative to
prove a point, the Jewish State was now a fact, and all that was required to
get there was to board a plane or ship. Graphic design reminiscent of the age
came into the fore in bookplate design. Maps of Israel frequently become integrated
into the design. Often the maps reflected the changing geopolitical situation
in the Middle East.

Plate by the late Israeli artist Menashe Kadishman for Chaim Stenger . He was One of Israel's best known and beloved painters and
sculptors. A large sculpture by him can be found on the campus of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania as well as at the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Sheep almost always appear in his designs.

By Ruth Sarfati.

ByMoshe Sternschuss

Through the 1980s and 90’s the
waning interest in ex-libris use received a shot in the arm with the
arrival of over one million Soviet immigrants. Traditional styles of Russian
and Eastern European book-plate design incorporated Hebrew graphology and
iconography.

ByLeonid Kuris

One leading force in this wave is the artist and collector Leonid
Kuris who has designed many original plates combining Jewish-Israeli and
Eastern European designs.

A growing interest in bookplates has also
been reflected both the sporadic exhibitions of bookplates and in Judaic
auction sales. Since the 1980’s major exhibits have taken place at Tel Aviv
University (March, 1994), Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheba ( January, 1995)
and at various art galleries and community centers in the years since.

Most notably has been the revival of the
ex-libris as a collectible item. This renewed interest may be traced to the
sale of 1582 Judaic bookplates to a Japanese collector through Sotheby’s in
October 1991. The final selling price approached the $20,000 threshold. Since
then, numerous collections have reached the auction market with prices
averaging between five and twenty dollars per plate. Signed Lilien and
Raban plates can sell for over 100 dollars apiece. In late November of 2014, a
collection of 648 plates sold for $5700 at the Kedem auction firm in Jerusalem.
Book plates do often appear for sale on e-bay, and interesting articles often
pop up on the Confessions of a BookPlate Junkie web site, run by Lewis Jaffe
from Philadelphia.

An attempt was made in 1988 to establish an
organization of Judaic ex-libris by collectors, Benjamin Katzir, Yohanan Arnon
and Raffi Grunzweig. Sadly, the initiative did not take hold. Today, in light
of the growing interest in ex-libris design, use and collecting, a new
initiative at forming an organization of collectors is being attempted.

Notes From LewYosef Halper's article appeared in the 2015 Year Book of The German Exlibris Society (DEG)

The German Exlibris Society (DEG) is over 100 years old, and thus the world's
oldest intact Exlibrisvereinigung. It was founded in 1891 in Berlin under the
name "Exlibris-Verein zu Berlin" and after a wartime break from 1943 to 1949
took up its work under its current name again. The Annual Meeting always takes
place around May 1 with participants from all over the world and thus
contributes to the distribution of the bookplate idea. Like Germany many
European and non-European countries - a total of more than 30 - have Exlibris
Societies, most of which are members of the Fédération Internationale des
Sociétés d`Amateurs d'Ex-Libris (FISAE). The Congresses of FISAE take place
every two years in a different country in the world. Meetings were held to
date in St. Petersburg, Tokyo and Istanbul. In 2012 the meeting was held in
Finland. For their annual contribution DEG-Members gain a bibliophile
yearbook with scientific articles about the bookplate and with accompanying
original artwork, three editions of the bookplate magazine "Messages" with the
latest information of what happens in the bookplate world, and occasionally a
special publication.

Here is the table of contents from the 2015 Yearbook. Although written in German the year book is so well illustrated that you can easily get an overview of bookplate activity and designs around the world.

I want to thank Dr. Henry Tauber editor of the 2015 yearbook for his assistance in making this article by Yosef Halper available to readers of my blog .I used some images of bookplates which were not in the original article because they were clearer than the images I received.If you wish to see a description of all the the yearbooks published go to

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Let The Buyer Beware

Shown below is President Herbert Hoover's bookplate." The artist Henry B. Quinan made the original drawing for Mr. Hoover's bookplate and incorporated into the design the wonderful title page image from Ein N�tzlich Berg-b�chlein. Quinan retained the antiquarian feel of the early-sixteenth-century mining scene by adding architectural elements in the frame with gnome-like miners at work. Hoover's initials can be seen in the monogram HCH at the bottom of the design."You can more detailed information at this link:

This bookplate is currently on Ebay. It is described as follows :

President Herbert Hoover Bookplate and Cut Signature

I sent the seller this information :

"Can you recheck your research regarding this
bookplate?President Hoover's
middle initial was C not HThe bookplate shown looks very amateurish and is
not shown in any of thereference books in my library.Thank's for your
help."Lew Jaffe "

This is the response I received:

Dear bookplatemaven,

'Given the provenance I would say that it was President Hoover's bookplate regardless of the "C". This collection included over 400 signed letters and other ephemera belonging to Hoover's life long friend and secretary. Whoever made the bookplate probably made a mistake. Or. maybe Hoover or Lewis ran across the bookplate and kept it as a novelty. (I'm going with the mistake by the maker)"

Over at The Huffington Post I found an article about unusual libraries.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

For those of you who were young in the 1960's can you fully comprehend that 1965 was fifty years ago ? I have trouble with such reality..I was not a bookplate collector back then but I did collect rolling papers. The collection was passed on to my son Steven.
Out of curiosity I searched Google for rolling paper collections and came up with a few links:
: